Lidded Tripod Vessel. Margarita Tomb, Structure 16, Copan, Honduras. AD 450-500. Ceramic with stucco and pigment. 19.5 x 23.7 cm. IHAH, Centro Regional de Investigaciones Arqueológicas, Copán, Honduras.

The Margarita tomb, discovered near the tomb of K'inch Yax K'uk' Mo', housed a royal woman thought to be his wife and the mother of the next ruler, K'inich Popol Hol. Her tomb and its adjacent offering chamber compose the richest female burial yet discovered in the Maya region. Her body lay upon a stone bier and was adorned with pectorals, anklets, and other jewelry made from more than ten thousand pieces of jadeite. She wore a massive jade, shell, and pearl necklace, its innermost strand comprising four carved jade pectorals representing a vulture, a supernatural fish, and two anthropomorphic heads, one of which wears the trilobed headband. Most of the ceramic vessels from the Margarita tomb and its antechamber were made locally. However, two of the unusually large polychrome dishes imply connections with other regions. One dish (on the left below) was made in the Guatemalan highlands, and the other (on the right) is from the Peten lowlands. Although the vessels are similar, their shapes and decorative patterns reflect the aesthetics of their respective regions, and their presence in the Copan tomb serves as evidence of the long-distance relationships and sociopolitical power of this regal woman. The tomb also contained a number of objects associated with Teotihuacan, most notably two slate and pyrite divination mirrors. References for Lidded Tripod Vessel: Sharer, Robert J., Loa P. Traxler, David W. Sedat, Ellen E. Bell, Marcello A. Canuto, and C. Powell. 1999. "Early Classic Architecture Beneath the Copan Acropolis." Ancient Mesoamerica 10 (1): 3-23. Sharer, Robert J. 2003. "Founding Events and Teotihuacan Connections at Copan, Honduras." In Braswell, The Maya and Teotihuacan, 143-65. Bell, Ellen E., Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler, David W. Sedat, Christine W. Carrelli, and Lynn A. Grant. 2004. "Tombs and Burials in the Early Classic Acropolis at Copan." In Bell et al., Understanding Early Classic Copan,, 136-43. Reents-Budet, Dorie, Ellen E. Bell, Loa P. Traxler, and Ronald L. Bishop. 2004. "Early Classic Ceramic Offerings at Copan." In Bell et al., Understanding Early Classic Copan, 179-80. McNeil, Cameron L., W. Jeffrey Hurst, and Robert J. Sharer. In press. "Cacao at Copan." In The Origins of Chocolate: Cacao in the Americas, ed. Cameron L. McNeil. Gainesville: University of Florida Press. Reference for Basal Flange Dishes: Reents-Budet, Dorie, Ellen E. Bell, Loa P. Traxler, and Ronald L. Bishop. 2004. "Early Classic Ceramic Offerings at Copan. In Bell et al., Understanding Early Classic Copan, 176-78. Reference for Pectoral: Bell, Ellen E., Robert J. Sharer, Loa P. Traxler, David W. Sedat, Christine W. Carrelli, and Lynn A. Grant. 2004. "Tombs and Burials in the Early Classic Acropolis at Copan." In Bell et al., Understanding Early Classic Copan,, 136-41.

Basal Flange Dish. Margarita Tomb, Structure 16, Copan, Honduras. AD 450-500. Ceramic with slip. 9.5 x 19.2 cm. IHAH, Centro Regional de Investigaciones Arqueológicas, Copán, Honduras.

Basal Flange Dish. Margarita Tomb, Structure 16, Copan, Honduras. AD 450-500. Ceramic with slip. 8.1 x 23.7 cm. IHAH, Centro Regional de Investigaciones Arqueológicas, Copán, Honduras.

Pectoral. Margarita Tomb, Structure 16, Copan, Honduras. AD 450-500. Jadeite and pigment. 4 cm. IHAH, Centro Regional de Investigaciones Arqueológicas, Copán, Honduras.

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